I was going to write a long and involved post on the little news item that we would surely love to sweep under the carpet. The news out of Ireland about our failure to uphold Jesus’s new commandment. The commandment that, if we follow it, will prove to the world our name and heritage.

“Speak no more; / Thou turn’st mine eyes into my very soul; / And there I see such black and grained spots” We are all Gertrude. Down to the first sinner. When God confronts Adam about his sin, he shifts the blame to Eve. “It’s not me!” It’s never me. It’s always somebody else. It’s always somebody else’s fault. Somebody else’s sin.

And in denying our own sin, we also deny our responsibility to help care for our brothers and sisters. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”, the complaint of the murderer, shirking responsibility. “What’s it to me?” “What can you do?” “How does this concern me?” “That’s life.” C’est la vie. Am I my brother’s keeper? Am I responsible for all the evils of the world? No, of course not–I’m not even responsible for my own evil.

The horror out of Ireland? You did this. I did this. We did this.

Confronting our sins is our cross. We mustn’t flee from it.

Lord Jesus, give me the strength to follow and fulfill your commandment to love all people unselfishly, unconditionally, and wholeheartedly, no matter how painful the consequences, or how costly the price. Amen.